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Meredith Whitney continues to get thumped by everyone under the sun for predicting on 60 Minutes that 50-100 American cities will go bust next year, triggering the next leg down in the financial crisis.

........................Biography of Meredith Whitney

Meredith Whitney is a financial analyst, who appears on the CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg news channels. She was educated from Brown University and she has worked with Oppenheimer & Co. She has now launched her own company, Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC. Her father is Richard Whitney, a venture capitalist, who also worked in Richard Nixon's Department of Commerce. She was married to the former WWE wrestler, John Layfield, on February 13, 2005, in Key West, Florida. Layfield also works in the financial analysis field, just like his wife.

Whitney's competitors, for example, are outraged (in part, no doubt, because she was on 60 Minutes, not them).
Journalists and research firms are scrambling to refute her.Towns and cities are furious.Muni bond holders want blood.....And so on.Which means that Meredith Whitney has done it again.

Great Wall Street analysts make big, bold calls that make people think. And, right now, Meredith Whitney is the best in the business at that.

Pittsburgh has been skirting the issue of solvency for quite a few years. Every time the issue turns tough - they sell off something else and postpone the budget cuts that have been needed for over a generation. One of the biggest problems we have is that about half of the prime real estate down town is owned by one government entity or another - and of what remains - a large portion is owned by tax exempt non-profits. Hell - there is one building that was built on government owned land that they managed to get leased to them in perpetuity for a pittance effectively rendering the property tax exempt.

Pittsburgh has been skirting the issue of solvency for quite a few years. Every time the issue turns tough - they sell off something else and postpone the budget cuts that have been needed for over a generation. One of the biggest problems we have is that about half of the prime real estate down town is owned by one government entity or another - and of what remains - a large portion is owned by tax exempt non-profits. Hell - there is one building that was built on government owned land that they managed to get leased to them in perpetuity for a pittance effectively rendering the property tax exempt.

I should say that I have never been to Pittsburgh, but I have spent quite a bit of time looking at what's going on and available there. From this distance, Pittsburgh looks like a huge opportunity, a city poised for rebirth with huge infrastructure, some attractive regional assets, and a bargain real estate market. The downsides of course are - history, location, and weather. But given that there are places with worse history, worse location, and worse weather which don't appear to be dying, then Pittsburgh is wanting for an explanation.

My guess is that Pittsburgh is too good of a deal right now. It ought to be swamped with hippies and counter culture types and entrepreneurs who want to get in early. But it's so cheap, it scares people. Also, it's competing with a cheaper than usual Sunbelt, and I'm not sure that will work. Most of the regional dynamics came about before air conditioning was everywhere, I don't know if it will be possible to revive some of these places which no longer have a critical location aspect to them.

A hundred thousand Serbians would probably make Pittsburgh a whole new experience.

I should say that I have never been to Pittsburgh, but I have spent quite a bit of time looking at what's going on and available there. From this distance, Pittsburgh looks like a huge opportunity, a city poised for rebirth with huge infrastructure, some attractive regional assets, and a bargain real estate market. The downsides of course are - history, location, and weather. But given that there are places with worse history, worse location, and worse weather which don't appear to be dying, then Pittsburgh is wanting for an explanation.

My guess is that Pittsburgh is too good of a deal right now. It ought to be swamped with hippies and counter culture types and entrepreneurs who want to get in early. But it's so cheap, it scares people. Also, it's competing with a cheaper than usual Sunbelt, and I'm not sure that will work. Most of the regional dynamics came about before air conditioning was everywhere, I don't know if it will be possible to revive some of these places which no longer have a critical location aspect to them.

A hundred thousand Serbians would probably make Pittsburgh a whole new experience.

The main problem with Pittsburgh is the government. The tax burden in the city is higher than it should - especially the property taxes. . . . The next step will be for the state to force the city and the county to merge. I'm torn as to whether or not this is a good idea or not. It would end duplication of services and allow a lot of administrative jobs to be cut - but reality is that they still won't cut spending even if they do. What about Pittsburgh's history do you find objectionable?

Well, Obama will just sign a bailout for several of them. "Too Blue to Fail"

I predict that the Feds will buy the muni bonds and that will take a great burden off the cities and states; these liars in government will tell us what a great investment this is similar to the government owning a stake in AIG and GM. Print the money and load it on to the national debt. That will be the end run around a Repub Congress who will not be in any mood for another stimulus package. We are broke and this writer hits the nail on the head.